The Vital Role of Public Programs in Moving People and Families Out of Poverty
“2020 has been anything but an ordinary year. A pandemic with no end in sight has devastated our communities and led to a global recession, the deepest since the Second World War. Today, the Census Bureau released income and poverty data for calendar year 2019, which provides a glimpse of the economy prior to the current economic and public health crisis. Because these data are indicative of last year’s economy, they do not allow us to examine the effects of COVID-19 and the current recession on families across the country. However, experts anticipate a sharp increase in poverty this year that will exacerbate racial disparities.”